With the nation in the throws of a violent drug war, over 200 people gathered in a central Mexico City park Sunday to smoke marijuana and demand it be legalized, an AFP reporter witnessed.

The protestors withstood drizzling rain to hang out on the popular tourist drag of the Alameda to smoke the herb, which remains illegal in Mexico, although the country is among a handful of Latin American nations that allow for the possession of a small “personal dose” of the drug.

Many participants smoked out of pipes decorated with skulls, which were said to allude to traditional pre-Hispanic cultures, as music was played and a petition was circulated to call for legalization.

Support for legalizing such so-called “soft drugs” in Mexico has grown, especially among left wing parties as a means to curb drug gang-related violence that has left some 28,000 people dead in the last four years.

Former president Vicente Fox (2000-2006), who led the conservative party of current President Felipe Calderon, has repeatedly voiced his own support for such a move.